The Effect of Marital Status on Income for Women in the United States
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Authors
Sherrill, Anna
Larkin, Hannah
Issue Date
2022-04-22
Type
Presentation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Scholarship Sewanee 2022 , economics , marital status , income , women
Alternative Title
Abstract
Research has found that marital status has many impacts on quality of life including health and life expectancy (Lawrence 2019; Maselko et al., 2009). Married women pay a marriage penalty when it comes to their own income level, resulting in an economic loss (Madalozzo 2008). Using panel data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), we examine the effect of marital status on both women’s personal and total family income. We look at variables that might influence women’s income such as marital status, age, education, number of children in the family unit, and age of the youngest child. We find that women’s marital status affects their income with the average single woman earning more compared to the average married woman. This may be due to a larger percentage of single women having a full-time job or a college education compared to married women which could impact their earning potential.
Description
Citation
Publisher
University of the South